Ricky Pine's Blog, page 31

Review: Mickey7

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book up after hearing that it was the source material for Bong Joon-Ho’s next movie, starring Robert Pattinson - a pretty quick turnaround, given that the book just came out this year, started filming this summer, and is expected in theaters next year. Assuming, of course, the current bloody bellend regime at WB don’t screw over the auteurs. The premise sounded like a pretty nice update to Duncan Jones’s amazing...

Review: A People's History of the Vampire Uprising

A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well it probably won’t be a bloody movie yet for a while because it’d likely come off as way too on the nose in this era of Covid. But as a four star read, it earns its place on that particular list of mine all the same. I’m honestly amazed the ratings for this book are so low here on GR, but maybe that’s because people got tired of the World War Z style after a while? That said, thou...

Review: Nona the Ninth

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Expanding the trilogy to four Locked Tomb novels?

We've been officially Red Queen-ed.



So...Nona. She's a pretty interesting little character, introduced at the very end of Harrow the Ninth with all the mystery as we suddenly ported over from the apocalyptic futura gothica of the series so far and into what could almost pass for the present day.

Except the present day is a little closer to the flashbacks that finally explain...

Review: Legends & Lattes

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"High fantasy and low stakes," the ad campaign says? Well, you know what? It's pretty accurate a summary of the style of this book, but so is the fact that, like a coffeehouse ought to be, it's a cozy and comforting kind of read. We start with Viv the orc coming off a pretty intense battle, but she's finally realized that there's gotta be more in this life, and so she decides to take up a whole new vocation. As it ...

Review: Furysong

Furysong by Rosaria Munda
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Yeah...I think it's safe to say I figured out why Piéra Forde didn't want to finish this book. There's one scene in particular that I know just had to be everything that destroys her heart and then some, and I'm not gonna lie, I felt seriously sad reading that scene too. It was such a gut punch, and unexpectedly strongly emotional for a series that, honestly, I had such a difficult time connecting to all along. Maybe because...

Review: The Dawn of Yangchen

The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

F.C. Yee already gifted us Avatar fans with two novels about young Kyoshi, and now he's back with the first of a promising new duology - at the very least - about Avatar Yangchen, the most recent Air Nomad Avatar before Aang in the cycle. I admit, there's not a lot to know about Yangchen because she gets so little attention in the main series - certainly compared to Kyoshi and Roku, Aang's two nearest predecessors, or...

Review: Flamefall

Flamefall by Rosaria Munda
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Okay, so I said that this book was an improvement over its predecessor while I wrote my review of that one, but in the end, I have to say that this one still ended up being a pretty solid three star piece. Introducing a new POV character who stood out from Lee and Annie, Griff, was pretty nice to see (as was his pretty sweet, if stressful, romance with Delo), as well as the fact that individual chapters in this book tend to...

Review: Fireborne

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book up on Piéra Forde’s recommendation, because of how much she loved the trilogy - even if the third book broke her heart so much that she couldn’t finish. Reading my way through this book, I had a few moments where I was starting to wonder if I’d gotten a dud recommendation, a true rarity from her. Or maybe I’m just not as good at keeping up on YA anymore? In any case, while this book does suffer from a wei...

Review: The Art of Prophecy

The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wesley Chu, in a recent tweet, promised that this book, his epic fantasy debut, is a blend of the wuxia action of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the self aware humor of The Princess Bride. On that level, you will not be disappointed - hell, it’s a most apt description of this book, so steeped in Chinese inspiration from several periods in its medieval history, but also a sense of humor that wryly walks the line o...

Review: Upgrade

Upgrade by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Blake Crouch returns with his latest terrifyingly fast-paced (helped, of course, by his trademark single-line paragraphs of sentence fragments) sci-fi thriller. This one is slightly less space-time continuum mind-bending than Dark Matter and Recursion before it, but makes up for it with its near-future post-apocalypse and its use of genetic warfare to a level worthy of Michael Crichton. Crouch also puts his protagonist in a pr...